With Peter Hook and the Light’s live repertoire featuring material from the legendary bassist’s former bands Joy Division and New Order, you would be hard pressed to find a concert event with more classic live post-punk material in one place.

The concert is part of the same Skyline Series that is featuring two the previously announced performances from The The.

“We would like to thank family, friends and fans for all their kind words, condolences and memories about our brother Mark.

Also, the N.H.S and staff who treated Mark throughout and Mark’s partner Pam who loved, cared and cherished our brother.

Mark fought a long and hard battle after his diagnosis of terminal lung and kidney cancer. He took every treatment going, which could be brutal at times and left Mark with some horrible side effects. Mark was such a strong man and hated letting his fans down and tried to carry on regardless against all advice.

Mark had a great life and loved and lived it to the full and always by his own rules and we, as his sisters were privileged to be part of it too.

Mark is at peace now and pain free, but we, his three sisters have been left heartbroken and will miss our big brother very much.

The six track ep is full of poppy post-punk and gothic rock imbued with the sensual crooning of A. Alexander Wolfe, the precision hooks of Wolfgang Williams’ guitar, and the melodic frequency modulations from the synthesis of Tim Iserman. The sound of each track comes together with warm nostalgia clothed in leather and lace— suiting the erotic imagery that you would find at a new romantic cabaret, or Fassbinder’sQuerelle.

Every track is crafted as if it were a single—with the title track, Gray Filter, All Black, and Favorite Toy all disco dance floor friendly, with the remaining two Surface and Time Again wind the record down with delightful dirge.

We recently asked Ritual Veil about their origins, imagery, and what we can expect from them in the future—such as a full length LP, or touring in Europe:

Background:

WOLFGANG: Aidan and I had just been in band that fell apart before its first show and we were eager to get another project going. I was listening to a lot of Depeche Mode, She Past Away, Body Of Light, and Drab Majesty at the time and wanted to do something similar.

We knew little to nothing about synthesizers or how to create electronic music but over the span of almost a year we had managed to write the core parts for 6 songs using the presets on a Microkorg and drum machine I had picked up.

During that time I was being heavily influenced by Dario Argento films like Suspiria and Inferno, the artwork of Tom Of Finland, and the aesthetic of Drab Majesty and I felt very compelled to build an aesthetic around that inspiration. Also at that time I was beginning to embrace my sexuality openly and wanted to carry that feeling of sexual expression over to Ritual Veil.

Aidan and I were getting pretty antsy about playing shows but the minimal approach of the songs left them feeling unfinished and we also didn’t know how to execute the live performance. As we thought of people we could bring into the band to help us, I recalled a comment Tim had left on a video of some music I made saying we should jam sometime and since Aidan had known Tim from work we decided to reach out to him. Tim was a perfect fit for us and added the dimension we desperately needed. We finished up the 6 songs, recorded them, and started playing shows.

TIM: Aidan, Wolf and I have been involved in the DIY punk community in Portland for years; playing in bands such as Steel Chains, Smoke Rings, Petite, Fleshh just to name a few as of recent history.

Wolfgang and Aidan had been tirelessly stitching together the riffs that would accumulate to become the foundation for the Wolf in the Night EP. Knowing that I (Tim) was a synth-wise/elektro nerd, a few of the very early demos of some of the riffs that would become the 6 songs were sent to me and I was able to have a lot of fun populating the songs with synths and sound.

Within 2 months of playing together, we were in the studio recording the EP.

Lyrics:

AIDAN: The song titles and lyrical themes in Wolf In The Night stem from a range of emotions and inspirations: Love, lust, and the pursuit/fulfillment of one’s deepest desires are certainly present and probably the most parallel to the visual/audio aesthetic but we also touch on the darker side of the spectrum: Depression, mental illness, the fog of existential gloom, the presence/absence of god and the futility in acknowledging either.

Graphics:

WOLFGANG: The Logo was designed for us by Louisiana Purchase based off our aesthetics, and my personal interpretation of the symbols is that the glove represents the discipline and work needed to succeed, the lit candle represents the inspiration that motivates and guides us through darkness, and the rose represents the beauty you can create when you combine dedication with inspiration.

TIM: The rose/glove/candle symbol was designed by Austin artist/performer Louisiana Purchase. Please do yourself the service of discovering them, they are a fierce and beautiful performer and artist! We could not have been happier with the design.

The themes the images evoke and capture truly speak directly to the aesthetic we are trying to convey which is the embrace of our dark desires. To find what lies between despair and the divine, to embrace ourselves holistically with all our kinks, passions and persuasions without shame. There is a celebration of sexuality that permeates all we do with this project.

As humyns trapped in the loveless state of capitalism we build our worlds within to celebrate who we are contrary to the system. To be safe and supported. We as individuals have always been dedicated to DIY punk and radicalism and we keep that thread of love within all we do. As Emma Goldman said over a century ago, ‘ it’s not my revolution if i can’t dance.’

Video:

TIM: The ‘wolf in the night’ music video was a labor of love and a joy to make. Filmed by our very dear and creative friend Nestor Valenzuela and directed by our very own Tim Iserman. We filmed in early October of 2017 and premiered it at a show in mid-December.

The theme running through the video that we hoped to convey was the idea of running away from oneself and that one can only do so for so long. We live these lives so fractured, sometimes all one can do is see the full fire of oneself and jump into these flames to forge oneself whole. To embrace our dark passenger. It can be a terrifying process.

Live:

TIM: We are very excited for this summer and year. We are playing a few really fantastic festivals: Verboden in Vancouver BC, Near Dark in Oakland, CA, and Portland’s annual dark wave/postpunk festival Out from the Shadows.

We are also touring California in late March and are especially blissed out to be playing with dark wave legends Skeletal Family for one of our Los Angeles dates. An east coast tour is also currently being booked for October. Granted though I think our hearts are set for touring Europe as soon as possible.

Europe:

TIM: We’ve been really lucky to receive a lot of love and support from folks in Europe. We had the privilege and pleasure of releasing our EP through three different labels in Europe: BFA Records in Spain, Other Voices Records in Russia, and Voice from Inside Tapes Records in Ukraine. All have either sold out or are dwindling in supply, which is so amazing to us! We are very humbled and cannot wait to come over and play.

Currently Accident Prone Records in Portland, OR will be releasing the cassette in perpetuity. We have also been talking about distribution in Indonesia/SE Asia. Fingers crossed.

Future:

TIM: We have been hard at work with new songs and have amassed close to a new EP’s worth of music. We have been in talks with LA’s Riki regarding the possibility of a split release as we LOVE them! Check them out they are absolutely great!

Or, in the event that does not happen, we intend on just continuing to write towards a full length LP release at this point.

Reach out and touch Dave…

Depeche Mode are set to return to North America once again for another round of shows in May and June. The beloved post-punk and synth-pop legends have scheduled nine more dates to their itinerary, beginning at The Honda Center in Anaheim of May 22nd, and ending at the Air Canada Centre on June 11th.

Meanwhile, Martin, Andy, and Dave are currently finishing this round of European touring before heading to Russia and Latin America, on a tour that celebrates album’s such as Violator, Songs of Faith and Devotion, and Ultra, closing usually with the latter album’s titular single Personal Jesus.

Matt Johnson has added more dates to the live return of his seminal post-punk The The—which is making it’s return to the stage after 16 years of mostly soundtrack work and the release of a handful of singles.

Four more UK dates have now been announced around the band’s scheduled appearance at Festival No. 6 on September 8th. Two of these new dates are in Glasgow on September 4th and 5th, with a concert on September 7th in Birmingham, and on September 9th in Bristol.

Tickets are on sale 9AM Thursday with the general sale on Friday.

Still no news of the promised new The The album, which would be the first “proper” release since 2000’s Naked Self.

Meanwhile, last year Johnson had teamed up with Johnny Marr on the We Can’t Stop What’s Coming single for Record Store Day, along with the Radio Cineola 3-disc box set.

Japan is known for being a country that loves both Fan Service and Fanfiction, and both are in full Otaku effect in the 1980s Japanese music magazine called 8 Beat Gag. The magazine features Manga caricatures of popular western artists of the time—drawn for the most part by manga artist Atsuko Shima.

The wonderfully weird comics feature The Cure’s Robert Smith, David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto, Dave Vanian, Peter Murphy, Morrissey, Ultravox!, and more in situations ranging from being cute to amazingly bizarre.

We have not been able to translate any of these yet, save for the one below, where The Damned’s Dave Vanian, Duran Duran’s John Taylor, and The Cure’s Robert Smith are complaining about tourist season.

Robert Smith: “The weather is warm, so we are seeing more stupid people out and about”. John Taylor: “If so, i guess we can expect to see many more of them.” Dave Vanian: “mmmhhhhh….”

Here are more from the Robert Smith issue:

Note that Morrissey and Pete Burns are in this panelWhy Can’t I Be You?

David Sylvian issue:

Here is where the full fan fiction treatment is in full effect, with the romantic pairing of Japan’s David Sylvian and electronic music pioneer Ryuichi Sakamoto:

“The main story in the comic involves David being in the UK and missing Ryuichi. He decides to visit Tokyo to further the “romance” and finds himself in competition with Akiko Yano, Ryuichi’s wife. Quite a humorous story written by a woman who was a huge Japan fan. She caricatures herself on the cover as looking very guilty about writing such a homo-erotic story, possibly in parody of the lyrics to ‘Forbidden Colours’.(Sincere thanks to Craig Peacock for this review).

Additional info on the cover: The front cover shot is an alternate take from the cover of the Japanese 7″ of Forbidden Colours. The back cover picture is from a fashion shoot David and Ryuichi did for an ad campaign for a department store, however it was never used.”-DavidSylvian.net

Peter Murphy and Mick Karn of Dali’s Car

More Manga from 8 Beat Gag:

David Sylvian is watching on television Siouxsie Sioux in a weird footrace with metal band GirlschoolDave VanianStiv BatorsBoy George

The video see singer Dave Vanian crooning from a cryopod as humanity ventures out into the cosmos to leave behind the dystopian world inspired by the electric dreams of Philip K. Dick.

The album Evil Spirits available for pre-ordered now, was produced by famed David Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti, and has a distinctly old school feel to it,reminiscent of theBlack Album/Strawberries era of the band, which is appropriate given the return of bassist Paul Gray to the lineup, who performed on both those albums.

As reported by NME, guitarist and founding member Captain Sensible, spoke about recording the album in Brooklyn last year with Visconti:

“We deliberately recorded the album retro style – the same way our debut album was made, basically.

“There’s something wonderful about the seventies sounds; glam, rock and punk records, they all sound so great and Tony specialises in beautifully crafted old school production. He had us all playing live, bashing it out in the same room with a focus on getting the initial band version of each song as close as possible to the finished thing.”

On January 25th, 1978, Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris made their live debut as Joy Division at Pips Disco in Manchester, initially being billed as Warsaw for the performance.

Warsaw was a name inspired by the track Warszawa off of David Bowie’s Low—an album that treasured by frontman Ian Curtis.

However, this name was too similar to another band being booked at the time called Warsaw Pakt, so the 4 Mancunian lads chose another name suggested by Curtis.

The new name, Joy Division, named after Jewish prostitutes in a Nazi Concentration camp featured in the book House of Dolls, by Ka-Tsetnik 135633 (yes, that’s the real pen name of Holocaust survivor and author Yehiel De-Nur).

Note that House Of Dolls is also referenced on the Warsaw track No Love Lost, that was later released on Joy Division’s debut Ideal For A Living EP.

“It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Mark E. Smith. He passed this morning at home. A more detailed statement will follow in the next few days. In the meantime, Pam & Mark’s family request privacy at this sad time.”

The Fall were one of the earliest and most prolific British post-punk bands, and were highly influential, abrasive, original, and confrontational. The band constantly shifted genres and lineups over the years, never content with staying the same for too long. Each new record experimented with a slew of outsider sounds, weaving in Krautrock influences, heavy electronics, and more over the years, while still retaining their unmistakable sound. Smith’s trademark snarls were often drenched in literary references and surreal narratives; a truly unique poet laureate that was without peer. Legendary BBC DJ John Peel famously claimed The Fall was his all-time favorite band, and recorded over twenty-four sessions with them over the course of twenty-six years, all of which were compiled in 2005.

The Fall have released thirty-two studio albums, the latest released in July 2018 on Cherry Red. The band was set to tour the US for the first time in twelve years, playing 5 nights at Baby’s All Right, a small venue in New York City.

One of the most important studios in music history is Berlin’s Hansa Studios—just around the corner from Potsdamer Platz in West Berlin.

This is where David Bowie recorded his masterpiece Heroes, paving the way for many post-punk and avant-garde acts to follow—such as Mute Records artists like Depeche Mode, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Fad Gadget.

In a new documentary Hansa Studios: By The Wall 1976-90. directed by Mike Christie, artists such as Gudrun Gut, Alexander Hacke, Barry Adamson, Martin Gore and producers such as Daniel Miller, Flood, Tony Visconti, and Gareth Jones discuss the legacy of the historic studio just meters away from the Berlin Wall.

PUNX.UK

PUNX.UK was formed by a Manchester anarcho punk collective in 2013 as a webzine sharing info on local gigs and bands.

Originally focusing on creating a DIY gig guide for our city we then expanded to cover the whole of the UK scene in 2014.

Since then we've faithfully tried to promote all the events, blogs, websites and sounds of resistance throughout the country and beyond.

In 2016 we partnered with Sabcat Workers Cooperative to produce dissident political wear providing financial support to the activist causes, benefits, unions, bands, and community groups that we work with.